This invention relates to a photographic processing machine for automatically developing and drying film, printing images on films onto photographic paper, and developing and drying the photographic paper.
As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, this type of photographic processing machine has a film developing unit A comprising a plurality of treating tanks, a film drying unit B, a printing unit C, a printed paper developing unit D having a plurality of treating tanks, and a printed paper drying unit E. Films F are fed through the units A, B and C. Web of photographic paper P is fed through the units C, D and E. While feeding films and photographic paper, the films are developed and dried and the images thereon are printed onto the photographic paper. The thus printed photographic paper is developed and dried. These steps are all carried out automatically. In the device shown in FIG. 18, the film feed path G extending from the film drying unit B to the printing unit C is located right over the film drying unit B. In the device shown in FIG. 19, the film feed path G extends straight ahead from the unit B.
Films F are fed at different speeds and in different manners in the film developing unit A and the film drying unit B than in the printing unit C. Films are fed continuously in the units A and B, while in the unit C, films are intermittently fed frame by frame. Thus, the feed of each film has to be temporarily stopped before feeding it from the unit B to the unit C. For this purpose, a film stocking unit Q is provided downstream of the film drying unit B. Each developed and dried film is stocked temporarily in the film stocking unit Q until the printing of the preceding film F in the unit C is complete.
Since such a film stocking unit Q is used merely to stop the feed of film temporarily, it can stock only one film. This arrangement poses a problem if it takes a long time for the exposure of the film in the printing unit C. More specifically, the time needed to expose each film in the printing unit C varies according to its shooting conditions. If a film in the printing unit C requires a long exposure time, even though a second film F is being stocked in the film stocking unit Q, a third film that follows the second film F may be guided into the unit Q.
Since the developing time is fixed, it is impossible to keep films in the developing/drying unit too long. Thus, the third film has to be fed into the film stocking unit Q. Since the unit Q can stock only one film, the second film has to be fed to the printing unit C. As a result, the first film in the printing unit C has to be discharged from the printing unit C before printing all the frames.
The film F discharged from the printing unit C before having all its frames printed has to be fed back into the printing unit C for printing and subsequent treatments. This process, called "make-over", has to be carried out interrupting the normal continuous, automatic process. The operating efficiency thus worsens.
Films F that require extra printing or other post-printing treatments have to be fed into the printing unit C through a film inlet 14a.
Since a conventional device can stock only one film to feed film intermittently for printing, it was impossible to print another film. Thus, extra printing was possible only while films were not being developed.
A first object of this invention is to provide a photographic processing device which can prevent films F from being discharged from the printing unit C without having all their frames printed.
A second object is to provide a photographic processing device in which extra printing can be carried out while films are being developed and dried.